


Trying to Rebuild

by spinner_atropos



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fade to Black, First Time, it seemed like a good idea at the time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 17:11:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3496304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spinner_atropos/pseuds/spinner_atropos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Some of us would heal better if we'd talk to our friends. Heal with us. Get together with Alicia and Katie and have a good cry or something. We're worried about you. If you keep up like this you'll fall off your broom and break your neck one of these days."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trying to Rebuild

**Author's Note:**

> This was written based on personal/small group fanon, I think somewhere between Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, so it's been jossed six ways from Sunday by now (I'm never going to *quite* forgive J.K. Rowling for Fred), but what the hell.
> 
> Apologizing right now for any mangling of British English (my image of it is from approximately "Are You Being Served" and "Monty Python" and any blatant Americanisms that made it through.

"Right, then, where's the crisis?" Fred asked, popping into existence in the middle of Angelina's living room. Angelina herself was nowhere to be seen, but Katie and George were sitting on the sofa.

"In the bathroom," Katie said, jabbing a thumb in that direction. "She's been locked in there all afternoon."

Fred felt the first stirring of unease. "Is this some kind of mad girl thing? Why can't you deal with it? You're a girl." He looked from the hallway to George to Katie. George sniggered.

"She won't talk to me. She won't talk to anybody."

"What makes you think she'll talk to me? It's not like she listens to me on a regular day."

George rose and stood beside his twin, clapping him on the shoulder. "Fred, old boy, go in and work your Weasley magic. Katie and I will be here for backup--and to watch the fireworks." He sauntered into the kitchen.

Fred wasn't reassured. He walked down the short hallway to the bathroom. He tested the knob; it was locked. Why did they make locking bathroom doors, anyway? He stood and listened; Ang was sniffling, but didn't seem to be actually crying. That was good, right?

He knocked. "Ang?"

There were a couple of seconds of silence, and then she swore under her breath. "Fred?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing here?" She cleared her throat and ran the tap.

"Katie owled me." He shuffled uncertainly. "She thought maybe I could help." How could he help if he didn't even know what was wrong? "Did the Arrows throw you over or something?"

This wasn't at all like the Ang he knew. Normally when something was wrong she stormed around and shouted a lot. He'd never known her to lock herself in the loo and cry. He fell back on training from the War. "What's in that little box on your dresser?"

"The little--" She paused. "Fred, you berk, I'm not under the Imperius, and I'm not an impostor."

"Then answer the question."

She sighed. "Some pebbles, and my gran's amethyst ring, and--I don't know, bits and bobs. I haven't even opened it in ages."

"All right, then, tell me what's wrong so I can help. If you're going to stay locked in there all day I'm going back to my bookkeeping."

"Help?" The sudden spark in her voice was more like the usual Angelina. He started to relax until the door was flung open and they were standing toe-to-toe. She brandished some sort of Muggle object, made of that plass-stix they so loved, at him. "This is all your bloody fault in the first place!"

He drew back both from her anger and the ammoniacal odor of the little device. "What is that, and what'd you do, drop it in the--" He was cut off as she yanked him into the bathroom and slammed the door again.

She tossed the object into the rubbish bin and sat on the toilet. "It's a test," she snapped. "Do you remember that stupid Victory Gala?"

Now he was on the defensive. "Of course I do." He skimmed quickly through the stand-out moments of the night, and felt suddenly light-headed. "Oh hell."

***

"Some bird propositioned me tonight," Angelina said, breaking the December-cold silence as she and Fred walked down from Hogwarts to the Apparition point in Hogsmeade. It was safe to walk at night now, but she still felt funny doing it.

"Propositioned for what?"

" _Propositioned_. _You_ know." She elbowed Fred in the ribs, then realized the futility of quoting the "wink wink, nudge nudge," sketch at him. "For... _you_ know."

"Take it you didn't accept, then."

She stopped dead in her tracks. "Is that what you think? Is that the curse of being a female Quidditch player? Do you think that about Katie? Or Alicia? Did you think we had some kind of threesome going on?"

"No, I don't, and no, we didn't, though I can't say us blokes didn't fantasize about it a bit." He dodged the cuff she aimed at his shoulder. "Oy, Ang, I was kidding. You've been all teeth and prickles lately. If you want to stand around here all night, fine, but I want to get home." He turned back down the path and started walking again.

The party at Hogwarts had been put on by the Ministry, billed as a celebration of those who'd helped win the War. It had ended up feeling more like a wake for those who hadn't made it. Angelina had sat stoically through it, face unmoving, accepted hers with as few words as possible, and then retreated back to her table to continue nursing her rum punch.

"Who was it?" Fred's voice brought her back to the present.

"Dunno. Could've been an auror for all I know." She took a few steps, her breath white in front of her face. "It doesn't matter who it was."

"Well, if it bothers you that much, thought I could maybe give her a Nosebleed Nougat next time I saw her, is all."

She smiled. "I don't think that's necessary. Just--surprised me, is all." The lights of the village were coming into view. "People don't _really_ think that, do they? Just because I play Quidditch--?"

"I can't answer for other people, Ang," Fred said, sounding a bit put out. "If you want to know what _I_ think--" He caught at her upper arm through her cloak, her momentum pivoting her around and into him, and he used her momentary surprise to kiss her.

It wasn't quite like he'd imagined; Ang didn't seem to know what to do with herself. When he let her go she took an uncertain step back. One hand rose to her mouth before her arms disappeared under her cloak again. "How long have you been thinking that?" she finally asked.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, elbows akimbo under his cloak. He shrugged. "A while."

"Oh." They started walking again. "I think the chip shop near my flat is still open. Want to grab a bite?"

"All right then."

"Last one there pays," she said, grinning at him as she Apparated out of sight.

"Oy! No fair!"

***

The chip shop was closed, but the pub round the corner was still open. "All right, this is a Muggle pub," Angelina said as they approached. "Act like a Muggle. And just to be sure--" Her hand dove under his cloak and confiscated his wand. "I don't trust you to remember where you are." She ignored his protests and herded him inside.

"I never realized how much captaining had gone to your head," Fred said as they sat near the back. She cast her Cone of Silence over them so no one could hear the actual content of their conversation from outside the booth.

"I'm the expert on Muggles here, right? You forget I was raised as one."

"Raised by wolves is more like." His grumbling was in good humour.

"How's the rest of your family been?" she asked, hoping to get Fred to carry the conversation while they waited for their food.

"They're all right--Mum asks after you, you know. She'd love if you came to visit, she considers you practically one of the family." That was trouble with Molly Weasley--she had the biggest heart in all of Britain, and was a fantastic cook, but if she considered you "practically one of the family" that usually meant she expected you to oblige her by marrying in.

The smell of her fish and chips as they arrived reminded Angelina how hungry she was, and she tucked in. "Been busy," she muttered around a mouthful. "With the Arrows, and the League, and all."

"From the looks of it, you've been too busy to eat," Fred said, eyeing her critically. It was true, this was the first real meal she'd had in... what, days? She was eating a lot of pot noodles and things in packets lately. "You look like there's still a war on. You don't laugh anymore."

She slammed her fork down. "How can I? When all I've seen is death and destruction for what feels like half my life? How can you laugh? You _still_ don't take life seriously. I don't understand you."

"I've done my share of crying, Ang, and now I'm laughing while I can. We've all been through hell, but it's time to move on and rebuild."

"Well, that's what I've been doing--trying to put the League back together so I still have a livelihood. Quidditch was all I had before, and without it I might as well have died myself."

"All you had? What about your friends? We're still here."

"Some of you. I lost half my team, half my classmates. I need time to absorb everything that's happened. Everyone who's... gone. Some of us take more time to heal."

"Some of us would heal better if we'd talk to our friends. Heal with us. Get together with Alicia and Katie and have a good cry or something. We're worried about you. If you keep up like this you'll fall off your broom and break your neck one of these days."

She looked down at her plate and speared a chip with her fork. "I'll try to take better care of myself, okay? I didn't know you took after your mum so much."

"You can't hide away in your shell forever. I won't let you."

She made a noise of dismissal at his too-serious tone. "I can't hide in here forever, either. I need to get out of this smoke." Should've cast an Air-Cleaning Charm on their table while she was at it.

***

The cold, crisp air felt good this time as they walked back to her flat. Between the rum punch at the Ministry to-do and the hot cider she'd had at pub, which taken some of the chill from her bones, it was more alcohol than she'd had in--six months? A year? Her bad mood was evaporating as she found it increasingly difficult to concentrate enough to brood.

***

"Well, you look a lot friendlier now," Fred said once they'd gotten upstairs back to her flat. "I'll be having my wand back then, woman. The state you're in, you'll probably fall on it and break it."

"I'll do no such thing," she replied primly. "You don't even know where I've hidden it." The look she gave him would have been coquettish coming from someone else. He raised his eyebrows at her, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Just because you're taller than me doesn't mean I can't trounce you."

She shrieked as he dove for her. The resulting scuffle left them breathless and laughing, collapsed shoulder-to-shoulder on the sofa. Angelina sighed once she finally stopped giggling. "I feel guilty," she said. "For having fun when so many people we knew didn't make it."

He squeezed her hand. "Don't. We can't mourn them forever."

She let her head fall against his shoulder. "But sometimes it all--just comes back to me, all at once. Like at that stupid party. And I don't see how anyone can celebrate, when all I want to do is cry."

"Hang the Ministry's celebrations, then--cry if you want to or laugh if you want to. You know me--I don't believe in keeping things bottled up."

She turned her head to look at him. Their faces were very close. "Don't you, then?"

It was too good a chance to miss, and he kissed her again, for just a little longer this time.

She was looking at him with a kind of wonder when he stopped. "That's the second time you've done that tonight," she said.

"You're a right mathematician when you're snockered," he sniggered. "Want to try for three?"

She thought about it for a second. "All right then." She took a more active role in it this time. "Why are we counting?" she asked when they broke apart.

Fred slid up to sit on the couch properly, putting his arm around her shoulders. "You started it. How high can you count?"

"Right now I'm not sure."

"Let's find out."

***

He sat on the edge of the bathtub before his legs could give out. "Oh bloody hell." Little black spots danced briefly across his field of vision.

"Oh good, you've got it," Angelina said dryly.

"Are you _sure_?"

She gestured at the bin. "They're not always right, but they're pretty damned accurate. And I'm regular as clockwork, Fred. If I'm late something's definitely wrong." He looked blank. "Y'know, my monthlies. Please tell me you know how that works." She rolled her eyes.

"D'you think Mum and Ginny talk about that stuff with us blokes? We outnumber them seven to two. Do you think we'd _let_ them?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. "Mum's gonna _kill_ me," Ang said miserably. "I can't play like this! We're going to have our first exhibition matches in a few weeks, after all the work patching the League back together! Do you know how hard it is to recruit new players? Most people don't even want to _attend_ a match after what happened! If I go through with this--I've grounded myself before I've even gotten back on the broomstick!"

"What do you mean, 'if you go through with this?'" he asked suspiciously.

She raised her chin and met him stare for stare. "I don't know how it works for witches, but Muggle women have choices."

"Choices?" He was shouting now in a most un-Fred-like way. "Why not just play anyway--one lucky hit with a bludger and it'll take care of itself!"

"You're not the one who'd have to deal with the morning sickness, and the pain, and the hormones! And the risks! Women still die this way, you know!"

"I'd have to deal with _you_!" Fred shot back. "Remember what Tonks was like? It'd be like that, only you shout more to start with."

"I need to think!" she snapped, flinging the door open and stalking through it. "Obviously I can't have any peace in my own flat." She marched past Katie and George, snatching her cloak off the hook and slamming the front door behind her.

"Thanks, Fred," Katie said with surprising sincerity. "At least you got her out." She grabbed her own cloak and ran out the door. "Angelina, wait!"

"Never knew anyone who could row quite so well with Ang as you," George said, rising from the couch. "Guess I'll be along then. Good work, mate." His grin left Fred wondering exactly which bit he was being congratulated on.

***

Angelina was curled up in her armchair, staring at the strategy books in her lap but not really absorbing anything. She'd been beside herself with worry the last few days--should she see a doctor, or maybe a Healer? Should she go to her mum first since she was a nurse... or avoid her until necessary? She wanted to get a definite answer so she could plan from it, but on the other hand a definite answer would make it real.

She was startled by a familiar, intimate trickling sensation. Her heart started pounding as she realized what it was, and she jumped up and ran to the bathroom for confirmation. She thought for a minute she might faint from relief. She swore to herself that she'd never complain about menstruation again.

She grabbed a pen and parchment and scribbled a few words. _False alarm. We're all off the hook_. She tied it to Athena's leg and sent her off. She thought about going back to her books, but instead paced as she waited for the reply.

Instead of a rush of wings there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find Fred on the other side, Athena on his arm. "'We all?' Who else is involved in this?"

"Just us, I guess. I was in a hurry."

"Does this mean you're talking to me again?"

"Yeah, guess so."

He put Athena back on her perch and gave her an owl treat. "Are you apologizing to me?"

"For what?" Her tone was guarded.

"For acting like a complete prat."

"Why would I apologize to you for your own behaviour?"

He plopped casually down into the chair, one leg over the arm. "Mum used to apologize for my behaviour all the time."

"Yeah, but not to you." She sat across from him on the sofa.

"I'd have done right by you, you know." He was staring intently at a patch of sofa just to one side of her.

He looked a little wounded when she laughed out loud. "George would be taking bets on which of us would kill the other first. We'd drive each other spare inside a week."

"We'd make it work. We'd have to." He sounded stubborn.

She shook her head. "I've done too many things because I 'had to.' Dealing with you on a full-time basis would be the final insult."

"Well, if you're going to be that way about it, how about we just have something to eat instead? I haven't had my dinner yet." He rose.

"Making sure I'm eating properly?"

"Yeah, partly." He gestured; she stood up too.

"Where were you thinking?"

"Someplace I can keep my wand." He took her hand as he Apparated.


End file.
